Automobile-wheel.



S. M. BEERY.

AUTOMOBILE WHEEL. APPLICATION mgl) MAR. 12. 19u.

Patented Mar. 19, 1918` MORGAN COUNTY, INDIANA.

A, ASSIG'NOR T0 RRIMAN, BOTH OF BROWN TOWNSHIP,

.AUTOMOBILE-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. i9, 1918.

Application ined March 1a, 1917. serial No. 154,295.

To all wlw/m t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. BEERY, a citizen of the United States,residing 'in Eagle township, in the county of Boone and State ofIndiana, have invented a new and useful Automobile-Wheel, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference' being had to the accompanyingdrawings and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to a type of wheel that is adapted forautomobiles or motor vehicles and to be equipped with a resilient tire,of either the pneumatic type or the noninflatable type of tire, theinvention having reference more articularly to a wheel that is adaptedto e equipped with either a clencher tire, a plain pneumatic tire ofeither the single-tube or the double-tube type, or with a rubber cushiontire, as may be preferred or found most available in emergency.

Anobject of the invention is to provlde an improved vehicle Wheel thatshall be so constructed as to permit a spare tire to be car- I ried inreadiness to be quickly applied tothe wheel in emergenc and moreparticularly .so that a pneumatic tire may be carried in inflatedcondition and be quickly applied tov the wheel Without 1t beingnecessary to deiate the tire. i

Another object is to provide an improved tire-carrying Wheel-rim thatshall be so constructed as to be able tohold an inflated pneumatictire'or other cushion when not applied to a Wheel, and which shall be soconstructed as to permit the Wheel-rim to be quickly applied with theiniiated tireI thereon to the wheel.

A further object is to provide an improved wheel of the above-mentionedcharacter which shall be of simple and inexpensive construction and notbe liable to derangement, and which shall be durable and economical inuse.

With the above-mentioned and other objects in view, the inventionconsists in a wheel having certain lnovel features of construction andincluding a detachable wheel-13m adapted to hold a tire for use when ppconsisting also further in the arts and combinations and arrangementsof) parts as hereinafter particularly`described and further deined inthe appended claims.

Referring to the drawings,-Fi re 1 is a front view of one type of automoile Wheel thereon of the plaln .felly. A rnn lied to the wheel, theinventionV constructed substantially in accordance with the invention;Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the inner side of the wheel fellyas viewed from the line II-II on Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionof the improved felly and rim structure to which a clenchertire isapplied; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the devices for securingthe improved Wheel rim Ato the wheel felly; Fig. 5 is a transversesection ofthe improved wheel-rim and felly with a pneumatic tiredouble-tube type, the wheel-rim being adjusted to conform to the tire;Fig. 6 is a transverse section of 'the wheel-rim and felly minus theclencher-rings so as to adapt the wheel-rim to receive a plain cushiontire; Fi 7 is a fragmentary transverse section of tgl-1e improved`reversible and interchangeable clencher-rings; Fig. 8 is a fragmentaryyplan view also as seen from the line II-II on Fig. 1 and includingcertain of the improved features; Fig. 9 is a section on the line IX-IXon Fig. 8; Fig. l0 is a plan view of the improved clencher-ring; and,Fig. 1l is a perspective view of a detachable part of the improved wheelfelly.

On the various figures of the drawings similar reference charactersindicate like elements or features of construction herein referred toand described.

A popular type of automobile wheel is illustrated for descriptivepurposes and comprises a hub 1, spokes 2, andthe improved felly 3provided with the improved wheelrim having the improved devices wherebyto secure a tire thereto. The felly 3 in the present case is composed ofwood and is embraced by a metallic band 4 which preferably isWedge-shaped in cross section, the thinner portion of the band beingadjacent to the front of the wheel. The band is suitably secured rigidlyto the felly, as by means of screws 5, and it will be' understood thatthe band may be shrunken tightly on the 6 is provided which also iswedge-shaped in cross section, its inner side being tapering with resect to its outside periphery and is remova le applied so as to encirclethe band, the thicker portion of the -rim being adjacent to the frontside' of the fell and embracing the thinner portion of the and, so thatthe rim when in placeshall be tight and close tting on the band. Thethinner edge of the rim which is adjacent the opposite side Aport to therear side of the flly has a gripper flange 7 thereon adapted to holdeither a clencher-rng or to engage one 'side of -a solid cushion tire.The opposite or front edge of the rim 6 has an inwardly-extending iiange8 thereon which preferably is received in an annular recess 9 formed 1nthe front face of the felly. 10 i's arranged against the front of therim 6 and its flange 9 and has a gripper flange 11 thereon adapted tohold a clencher-ring on the rim or to engage a solid cushion tire thatmay be placed on the rim. The flanges 7 and 11 are curved so as toextend partially over the face of the rim 6. The clamp plate 10 isdetachably secured to the flange 8 by means of screws 12 in order that atire may be secured to the rim to be carried by the latter as a sparetire, a spare rim in such case being provided. The rim 6 has an aperture13 therein to receive the inflation tube of a pneumatic tire.

Two improvedpgversible and interchangeable clencherriii""fare providedfor the rim 6 and are identically alike in structure, the clencher-ringshaving base portions 14 and 15 respectively, each base portion having abore 16 of uniform diameter that is slidngly fitted closely over theexterior of the rim 6,

the clencher-rings havmg Haring engage-V ment portions 17 and 17 thatextend from the base portions respectively. One side of each baseportion has a convex Aface 18, having a similar convex face 19, eachface conforming in contour to the contour of the inner face of theflange ,7 and the iiange 11. Beyondthe convex faces each ring'has anannular oove 20 in one side and a similar groove-21 1n the oppo- .siteside thereof, each groove being designed to receive the edge of eitherthe gripper iange 7 or the gripper flan e 11, the various peculiaritiesmentione being most clearly seen in Fig. 7. 4The clencher-rings beingassembled on the rim 6 the Haring portions 17 and 17 have oppositelydisposed convex faces 22 and 22 respectively to supand retain a plaintire, the {iaring portions having also concave faces 23 and 23 forengaging clencher-tires when the clencher-rings are reversely arrangedon the rim. When the clencher-rings are so arranged that the concavefaces 23 and 23 are presented each toward the other they are adapted toretain the tire casing 24 having clencher-ribs 25 and 26, the casinghaving an air-tube 27 therein; the clencher-rings when arranged inreverse order so that the convex faces 22 and 22 are presented inwardlybeing adapted to retain a non-clencher or plain tube or tire 28 which,when designed as a double-tube pneumatic tire contains an yairtube 29.vIt will be understood that each airtube Ais provided with aninflation-tube 30. 'ln order to detachably secuie the rim 6 to Anannular clamp plate .'front side of the felly suitable openings 1n thewheel a suitable number of retaining bolts 31 are provided and insertedthrough suitable holes in the clamp plate 10 and in the flange 8, theboltsxtending also through suitable holes in the felly 3, each bolthaving a head 32 thereon that is seated against the clamp plate 10. Eachbolt has a screwthreaded end portion 33 that is screwed into a nut 34whichhas a screw-.threaded hole35 to lreceive the end portion of thebolt. Each nut is fixedly secured to the rear side of the felly by meansof screws 36 and preferably has a gripper finger 37 thereon that engagesthe outside of the flange 7.

In order to permit the rim 6 with an inflated tire thereon to be slippedon to the wheel the felly 3 has a suitable opening 38 therein-fromwhich-aslot 39 extends to the to permit the inflation tube to be transverselycarried in normal condition to the opening, and for the purpose ofsteadying the inflation tube in the opening and also excluding mud fromthe slot 39, a plug 40 is provided which is fitted closely into the slotand has a groove adapted to clear one side of the iniiation tube, theplug being provided with lateral flanges 42 and 43 whereby to reinforcethe felly and also to retain the plugin place, the flanges resting onthe inner side of the felly, and having slots 44 and 45 therem ltoreceive cap screws 46 and 47 that are screwed into screwhreaded tubes 48and 49 respectively, the tubes bein inserted through sultable holes inthe f y and rigidly secure at their outer ends to the band 4, the endsof the tubes preferably be'ng screw mto the band* and being closed bymeans of plugs 50 and. 51 respectively. lhe slot39 and-,the plug 40preferably are of dove tail formation adapted to prevent the plug fromfalling out of the slot toward the hub of the wheel, the lug beinginsertible in the slot from the ont side of the felly. The clamp plate10 extends partially on to the front of the plug to retain the latter inplace in case the cap screws 46 and 47 are carelessly left in loosecondition. The plug has a lug 52 thereon for drawing the plug from placewhen released. It should be noted that the band 4 has a slot 53 thereincorresponding with the opening 38 and the slot 39 to permit freemovement of the iniiation tube of the tire.

In practical use a spare tire is mounted on a spare rim and securedthereto by the devices described for the purpose, the clamp plate beingsecured by the screws 12 to the flange 8 to prevent the tire wheninflated from forcing the clencher-ring from the front of the .rim 6.When occasion requires the removal of a damaged tire from a wheel therim in use is removed with the tire from the wheel moved from placepermits the spare rim and roo and, the plug 40 being rea slot extending`therein receiving a tire to be quickly applied to secured theretowithout making 1t necessa to deiiate the tire and subsequently iniate.1t when applied to the wheel; in most ca owmvexi,1 the tire requiring et they wheel and fore cannot become mis laced or lost.

Havin thus describedp the invention, what is claime as new 1. In avehicle-wheel, the combination of a felly having a radial openingAtherein and from the opening to the frontv face of t e fell a plugremovably secured in said slot, a and extending about and secured tosaid felly and having a slot portion of said plug, a rim encirc g saidband' and having aperture thereln at said opening, and retaining meansengaging the :telly and the plug andrsaid rim.

2. In a vehicle-wheel, the a felly having a radial combination ofopening therein and a slot extending from the opening to the thereinandV extending through said felly,

two cap-screws engaging said flan and screwed into the opposite ends ofsaid tubes respectively, and a clencher-rim secured on said band andhavin an unobstructed aperture adjacent to saidg orperi Intestlmonywhereo I a fr: my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL M. BEERY. Witnesses;

E. T. SILvIUs, Mxnm McCox.

